Fifteen members of the MSU Denver Precision Flight Team on Dec. 2 flew to several small Colorado cities to deliver donated food and toys to VFW posts for veterans and their families.

This is the second year for the charity drive for the flight team, which partnered with the Colorado Aviation Business Association (CABA) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars - Colorado.

More than 3,500 pounds of donations were collected by the flight team and the CABA. Members of the flight team paid the $300 to $500 fee to rent each of the 13 planes, which took off from Centennial Airport.

“That is quite a bit of money for these students and they worked hard to make this a success,” says Tanya Gatlin (’96), assistant professor of aviation and aerospace science and flight team coach.

Josh Falgoust is co-captain of the flight team. “It makes me happy because I know I love Christmas,” he told CBS4 News. “I love waking up and seeing presents under the tree in the morning and opening them. To give that to some other kids who don’t ordinarily get that makes me feel really good.”